Ilse Plume is an internationally renowned children's book author and illustrator who has illustrated stories from Italy, Latvia, Russia, and Sweden. She was inspired to illustrate children's books by her daughter, and her love of tales around the world was nurtured by her grandfather.
Her books include The Bremen Town Musicians, which received the Caldecott Honor, and The Year Comes Round: Haiku through the Seasons. She was the recipient of the 1985 Ezra Jack Keats Fellowship and has shown her work in exhibitions at the Concord Free Public Library and the DeCordova Museum in Massachusetts, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.